Gold prices score their first gain in four sessions
Bullion prices ended a choppy, two-sided trading session with modest gains on Thursday, 09 January 2014. Traders are awaiting Friday morning's all-important U.S. jobs report for direction. Gold prices scored their first gain in four sessions on Thursday as investors looked to data on the economy for cues on the precious metal's outlook.
Gold for February delivery tacked on $3.90, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,229.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange after touching lows under $1,223. Prices had tallied losses of roughly 1% over the past three trading sessions.
March silver also added 14 cents, or 0.7%, to end at $19.68 an ounce after Wednesday's 1.3% decline.
Arguably the paramount economic report of the month comes with Friday morning's U.S. jobs report. The key non-farm payrolls figure of the Labor Department's employment report is expected to show a rise of around 200,000 in December. Any figure that deviates significantly from the consensus forecast is likely to be a markets-mover. Trading in gold, silver and other markets could become volatile in the immediate aftermath of the report's release at 8:30 a.m. eastern standard time.
Thursday's European Central Bank monthly meeting saw the ECB leave interest rates unchanged. However, ECB President Mario Draghi did provide some comments at his press conference that were deemed as being titled toward the dovish side of ECB monetary policy. The ECB announcement and Draghi's press conference produced no major market movements, but did pressure the Euro currency a bit.
In overnight news, China's consumer price inflation was reported under control in December, rising at 2.5% year-on-year, and down from a 3% rate in November. This news assuaged some fears that inflationary pressures were heating up in the world's number-two economy.
In other news from overseas Thursday, German industrial output rose by 1.9% in November after falling 1.2% in October. Also, Euro zone consumer confidence rose to a more-than-two-year high in December, according to a report by the European Commission. These reports continue a trend of generally upbeat economic data coming out of the European Union.
At Wall Street, the weekly initial claims level fell to 330,000 from an upwardly revised 345,000 (from 339,000) while the consensus expected the claims level to fall to 338,000. The Labor Department stressed that the post-holiday period tends to be volatile as businesses dismiss their temporary work staff. Also, the December Challenger Job Cuts report pointed to a 6.0% decline in planned job cuts.
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